Several weeks back, I flew out to Milwaukee to visit my friend Ian who runs EssentialTennis.com. My visit was not as much a personal one as it was a educational one. Ian has been creating high quality videos and courses for a couple of years and when I told him about SDFD, he offered to teach me some things about video production, which is going to play a huge part in what I do on this site.
And while I learned a great deal, I also found some time to reflect on my life, my current situation, and how lucky I am to be able to work for myself and help people just like you get fit and healthy.
In today’s video, I wanted to share some of my personal story with you and why I do what I do here. If you’re not at all familiar with my story, I was a pretty miserable SOB for a number of years and let my health (along with many other things) slide down a deep, dark hole.
The kind of hole that many never come out of…
It wasn’t until a friend gave me a much needed wake up call that I made the decision to turn my life around and get my shit back together. My first step was working on my fitness level. I’ve been in pretty good shape much of my adult life and I had let myself become a lazy piece of shit and drowned my life’s sorrows in Big Mac’s and Red Bull’s.
Excuses Are Shit
I was full of excuses and full of shit. I didn’t try to improve myself because I told myself I couldn’t. Sound familiar?
But I did change and there were a few specific reasons why I turned my life around; a few of which I share in this video.
Why I share this with you is because I was in a bad place, a place many of you are in right now. Maybe you feel just fine, but deep down you know there is SO much more to life than what you’re doing and how you’re feeling right now.
I believe fitness is an incredibly powerful catalyst for improving your life and for me, it was THE biggest one.
So what is your excuse? I know that if I can turn my life around, you can too…So do it.
And if you have a YouTube account, feel free to subscribe to our FitDadNation channel and get alerts when I post new videos!
Good perspective here Steve – interesting choice of location for the shoot. 🙂
In your video, you made a comment about fitness being a “catalyst” to so many other parts of your life. Agreed 100%. You mention looking good for your spouse or the opposite sex, which is great. But what about the professional aspects of looking “healthy”. I’d be curious on your perspective there.
Hey Joe,
When you say professional aspects of looking healthy, I am assuming you are talking about how it directly affects you in the working environment. If I’m wrong, let me know.
The big takeaway in my opinion is confidence. Regardless of your job, a confident employee tends to be more competent. In my opinion and in my experience, being fit also garners a certain level of respect in the workplace. It’s unfortunately a common practice for people to look down on overweight people and I’ve seen it in every office I’ve ever worked in.
For me personally, I feel I was given more respect as a financial advisor because I looked the part more so than many others. I ate healthy at the office (usually), looked fit, and wore a suit very well and although these are not reasons to be respected, nevertheless, I was.
Did you talk to your buddy about “portrait video” vs “landscape video” formats? 😉
I think you’re on to something when you talk about fitness as a catalyst. In the previous post, Joe S. mentions the “professional aspects of looking healthy.” That’s one of the big reasons I’m starting to get back into it –– as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t want to be the “old fat guy” at work, nor do I want to slouch in looking twenty years older than I am and completely over the hill if I decide to pursue other career options.
Also, a number of the “self improvement” sites I’ve looked at over the year mention fitness as a first step in a variety of endeavors. Being something very concrete and actionable, pursuing fitness is a springboard for making changes across all areas of one’s life, because, while it’s not easy to accomplish, it’s easy to start. Walk around the block. Go for a jog. Try to do a couple of sit-ups or push-ups. No special training required, no special equipment, no special knowledge.
Ha David! Actually that was the first thing he said was a big no-no. Always use landscape!
I know what you mean when you say you don’t want to be that slouch at the office. In my career in finance, I’ve worked with some very wealthy people; people who have the time and money to stay fit. But they usually don’t.
Sitting at a desk all day for 25 years will wreak havoc on your midsection and posture and you’ll look like shit if you let it go unchecked. Walking is great as is any other form of exercise, but make sure you still do things to strengthen your core and lower back as well as stretch.
As far as your career options down the road, I can tell you from my experience that being fit and looking good really do play a significant role in getting a job. Sure there are exceptions when special high level skills are needed and such, but for many white collar jobs, looking the part can go a long way.
And I do believe fitness is a great catalyst for so many other areas. Better self image, more energy, better sleep, higher confidence. All things that lead to improving yourself.